Disgraced Suffolk police chief James Burke arrested Tuesday for ‘indecent exposure and soliciting sex from male undercover cop at NY park’

Burke, 59, was Suffolk County’s highest-ranking uniformed officer for four years before he was arrested in December 2015 and went to federal prison for beating a crook who stole his dildo and porn stash

During his arrest Tuesday morning cops said, Burke who later begged Suffolk County rangers not to arrest him for soliciting sex from an undercover ranger asked the officer ‘Do you know who I am?’ 

The former top cop who was released from jail in November 2018 after serving a 46-month term, is widely blamed for the mishandling of the Gilgo Beach murder investigation

Former Suffolk County Police Chief, James Burke, is seen leaving the 6th Precinct in Selden, New York on Tuesday after he was arrested for soliciting sex from a male undercover county ranger near the Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park

The disgraced ex-Suffolk County police chief who botched the Gilgo Beach murder probe was arrested Tuesday morning for soliciting sex in a park on Long Island, New York.
James Burke was picked up in the Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park by park rangers at about 10:15 a.m. and charged with offering a sex act, public lewdness, indecent exposure and criminal solicitation, according to a spokesperson for County Executive Steve Bellone.
The former police brass who went to federal prison for beating a crook who stole his dildo and porn stash, begged Suffolk County law enforcement not to arrest him for soliciting sex from an undercover park ranger before asking ‘Do you know who I am?’ 
Burke, 59, was detained at 10.15am on Tuesday morning and charged with offering a sex act, public lewdness, indecent exposure, and criminal solicitation.

County rangers set up a sting operation after a number of complaints about people soliciting sex in the area around the Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park It is unclear when or if Burke will appear in court

Authorities confirmed Burke was soliciting sex from a male undercover park ranger near the Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park when he was arrested. 
The former top cop asked the arresting ranger: ‘Do you know who I am?’, before telling officers that the arrest would be a ‘public humiliation’ for him. 
Burke, who is widely blamed for mishandling the Gilgo Beach investigation after kicking FBI agents off the case, has further charges pending. 
He was the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the county for four years, was arrested in December 2015 after beating a man accused of stealing a bag containing sex toys and pornography from the cop’s car.
County rangers set up a sting operation after a number of complaints about people soliciting sex in the area. Officers said they had ‘only been in the area for a few minutes’ before the solicitation attempts from Burke began.
It is unclear when or if Burke will appear in court. 

Former Suffolk police chief James Burke, was arrested for sex in a public space on Tuesday morning. asked the arresting park ranger: ‘Do you know who I am?’, before telling officers that the arrest would be a ‘public humiliation’ for him. Burke was accused of hampering the serial killer probe in the Gilgo murder

District Attorney Ray Tierney confirmed that his office is awaiting the charging documents for the former officer. 
Suffolk County spokeswoman Mary Kate Guilfoyle said in a statement: ‘At approximately 10:15 a.m. at Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park the Suffolk County Park Ranger’s Targeted Response Unit (TRU) arrested James Burke.
‘At this time, he is charged with offering a sex act, public lewdness, indecent exposure, and criminal solicitation, with additional potential charges pending.’ 

The former top cop asked the arresting ranger: ‘Do you know who I am?’, before telling officers that the arrest would be a ‘public humiliation’ for him

Burke has shunned outings since his 2018 release from a 46-month sentence for assault and obstruction of justice charges was seen a week after Heuermann was arrested in the Gilgo Beach murders case. He had been accused of hindering the investigation as chief of police 

Before Burke became Suffolk County’s top cop, he had been involved in a series of scandals involving drugs and prostitutes. 
An internal police investigation found Burke left at least one of the women in his patrol car alone with his service weapon resting on the back seat.
Burke was released from prison in November 2018 after serving a 46-month jail term for beating a heroin addict who had stolen a duffel bag from his vehicle. 

Manhattan architect Rex Heuermann, 59, is now charged with three murders attributed to the Gilgo Beach serial killer, and is the prime suspect in a fourth victim’s murder

Christopher Loeb, who was 26 at the time, was arrested in December 2012, suspected of stealing a the bag containing a gun belt, ammunition, sex toys and pornography from Burke’s unmarked police SUV. 
The vehicle had been parked outside of his home in St James, with Burke found guilty of beating Loeb inside the Fourth Precinct in Hauppauge.
Burke then orchestrated a failed cover-up when Loeb complained about the beating and the FBI investigated Burke and his cronies in Suffolk County.
The probe into the serial killings was ongoing at the time authorities began investigating Burke, who was appointed chief of police in late 2011, several months after the initial discovery of four women’s bodies.

Burke battered Christopher Loeb [photo],, who stole a bag from the police chief’s car which contained porn and sex toys

Determined to cover his own tracks, he ultimately removed FBI agents from the case – drawing backlash from critics who accused him of delaying a breakthrough in the case.
He was then indicted of charges of obstruction of justice, and violating the civil rights of Loeb. 
A judge at the time ruled that he was a danger to the community and was denied bail. 
District Court Judge Leonard Wexler said Burke acted as a ‘dictator’ as he tried to cover up the crime. 
Federal prosecutors said that his cover-up included: ‘The recruiting of high-ranking officials from other county agencies to assist him in the obstruction and to give teeth to his threats.’
Burke was investigated again in 2017 after oxycodone was found in his prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, though the result is currently not known. 

According to John Ray, attorney representing two families of victims whose bodies were found along Gilgo Beach, alleges that former Suffolk County police chief James Burke’s had a ‘real devotion for advancing prostitution in his own backyard’

John Ray, an attorney representing families of two victims whose bodies were found along the Gilgo Beach between 1996 and 2011, previously alleged that James Burke as police chief, led a double life, including smoking crack, cross-dressing and relationships with prostitutes.
‘Burke had a real devotion for advancing prostitution in his own backyard’, Ray said.  ‘He was investigating sex workers like a robber investigates robbers.’

Ray represents the families of victims Shannan Gilbert and Jessica Taylor whose bodies were found along the beach. Their murders remain unsolved

John Ray [right] attends Rex Heuermann’s court hearing with Jasmine Robinson [left]

Burke had a longstanding relationship with at least two sex workers, according to Ray.
Then police officer Burke met Lowrita Rickenbacker while patrolling the infamous Albany Ave in Wyandanch. His other muse, Heather Malone, who ran a prostitution ring out of her hair salon in St. James, going back to the early 1990s. 
According to Ray, Heather Malone would carry a beeper around so the pair could communicate. Those calls were eventually traced back to Burke. 
It is unclear if the pair are still in touch, but Ray says Malone was never charged for any wrongdoing.

Disgraced Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota, 79, [left], and Christopher McPartland, [right], former chief of an anti-corruption bureau, were convicted of helping to cover Burke’s behavior

Burke [center], marched into an FBI office in New York after he was arrested and charged for beating a thief who took a bag of porn and sex toys from his police car then trying to cover up the attack in 2015

The lawyer alleged that on two occasions Burke was seen dressed in women’s clothing – specifically women’s under garments during a sex romp at a hotel in Wading River with a sex worker from Oregon. 
He was spotted again in women’s clothing when a private investigator that Ray works with saw him driving in his car. When he got wind that the investigator was trailing him he reportedly hit the gas.
‘Here is the chief of police … Just before he becomes the chief of police, living with one woman who has a beeper that is running a prostitution ring and goes with another woman to his home in Ronkonkoma and cross-dressing as a woman and smoking crack with a sex worker girlfriend,’ Ray said.
Despite Burke’s double life, he continued to rise through the ranks at the police department. He has also been described by colleagues as a ‘psychopath’ who was always ‘horny’ and thought he was ‘untouchable’.
In 2011, he was appointed by his longtime mentor, then Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, as the chief of Suffolk County Police Department.

Four of the 11 Gilgo Beach murder victims so far associated with a Long Island architect are Maureen Brainard-Barnes, [left], Amber Costello, [second left], Megan Waterman, [second right], and Melissa Barthelemy [right]. Rex Heuermann has been charged in the deaths of three of the victims, but investigations continue

Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and top aide Christopher McPartland were later convicted of charges including conspiracy, witness tampering and obstruction in connection with the federal investigation of Burke. They are currently serving five-year prison sentences. 
The disgraced cop was last spotted in July, nearly a week after architect Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested in relation to the murders of three of the 11 victims in the long-unsolved Gilgo Beach killings. 
Heuermann’s arrest on July 13, marked a major breakthrough in the murder case that at one point was hampered by a series of scandals inside the Suffolk County Police Department, under Burke’s leadership.
Investigation into Burke’s crimes also uncovered salacious details of his alleged taste for drugs and love of prostitutes which at one point, led some to believe he may have ties to the Gilgo Beach murders.

Burke as police chief allegedly, was ‘well-known to have a penchant not only for frequenting sex workers but for indulging in drugs’

One media profile alleges that Burke was ‘well-known to have a penchant not only for frequenting sex workers but for indulging in drugs’. As chief, he allegedly repurposed his office ‘into a makeshift bar which was open every night for ‘drinks.’
He would also ask his staff to ‘conduct surveillance’ on his girlfriend and her exes, it is claimed.
He has also been accused of holding grudges against colleagues and subordinates he didn’t like, them punishing them with threats and demotions. Former colleagues have described him as a ‘psychopath’ who was always ‘horny’ and thought he was ‘untouchable’.